Definition · Allowed AI at work

AI agent

An AI agent is software built on a language model that perceives its situation, decides what to do, and acts with tools. It works toward a goal rather than only producing text. In healthcare, an agent might read a care-gap list and call each patient. It answers their questions, logs outcomes, and hands off to staff when needed.

What an AI agent is

An AI agent runs a loop. It perceives inputs such as a message, an uploaded file, or a caller's speech. It decides on the next step using a language model and its instructions. Then it acts through tools: placing a call, sending a text, searching records, creating a task, or updating a CRM. It repeats until the goal is met or it hands off.

A chatbot answers questions inside a conversation, and a person still does the work. An agent completes the work across systems. That makes guardrails essential: limited permissions, a defined scope, clear handoff rules, human review for sensitive steps, and logs of what it did. In healthcare the agent also needs a BAA when it touches PHI.

Rivvi is a HIPAA-compliant AI workspace where staff chat, upload, and analyze with an AI that remembers the organization. Its action layer runs agents on calls, texts, and web chat. When a patient needs a person, the agent warm-transfers the call or creates a follow-up task. Outcomes are logged and pushed to a connected CRM.

Questions

AI agents, answered

AI agent vs chatbot: what is the difference?

A chatbot responds to messages, usually from a fixed script or a single model reply, and the user does the follow-up work. An AI agent pursues a goal. It plans steps, uses tools like phones, files, and CRMs, and checks results. Then it finishes the task or hands it to a person.

What can AI agents do in a medical practice?

Common jobs include answering inbound patient calls, calling patients due for screenings or refills, confirming appointments, collecting intake details, and following up after discharge. Agents can also work through uploaded lists, such as payer gap reports, and log every outcome so staff see what happened.

Are AI agents safe to use with patient data?

They can be, with the right controls. The vendor must sign a BAA, and the agent should have only the permissions its job needs. Sensitive or clinical steps should go to a person. Every action should be logged. Outbound calls and texts must also honor TCPA consent and opt-out.

Is an AI agent the same as agentic AI?

They are related. An AI agent is a specific system that acts toward a goal. Agentic AI is the broader category, describing AI that plans and acts with some autonomy. A product can be agentic in one workflow and simply conversational in another.

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What an AI agent is

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